After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 12

“Then, let’s go see it together when we have the chance.”

“Other people?” Duan Nan did not expect him to suddenly ask about Shen Shiqin.

After realizing who this “other person” was, he replied, “I heard from Xiao Yuan that the main cast will not be livestreaming today; the production crew should have other arrangements. But speaking of which, the day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, so the production team will likely seize this opportunity for promotion.”

He Lan let out an “oh” and did not ask any further.

His sleepiness fading, he took out his phone, logged onto the trending topics, and looked up the movie promotion for Tai Sui Yuan.

Tai Sui Yuan is a grand, male-led IP drama without a romance subplot. It mainly tells the story of the protagonist, played by Shen Shiqin, leveling up and battling monsters while bearing the burden of national vengeance during a turbulent dynasty.

The movie chose to premiere on January 18th, ten days before New Year’s Eve, serving as a prelude to the Spring Festival season.

Although it did not fall exactly during the Spring Festival, its box office accounted for 50 percent of the total box office in its first week. Having been released for over a week, the buzz remained high.

During the first week of the film’s release, the leads began roadshows, promotional appearances, and brand collaborations in major cities across the country to maximize exposure and expand their influence.

The second week shifted the focus to the public opinion sphere, accepting various media interviews and interacting on social platforms.

This was why Shen Shiqin only came to participate in this variety show in the second week.

On one hand, it was to travel and relax his tense body; on the other, it was to maintain his popularity and attract a broader audience.

Discussions about the movie were endless. He Lan inadvertently clicked on the official movie account and saw the latest post.

The gist of it was that the main cast would be livestreaming tomorrow, and today, several important supporting actors were doing a stream, serving as a pre-heat.

He Lan looked at the notification and felt it was a bit strange.

At this moment, Xiao Chen’s voice came from the front of the vehicle: “The forest park we are going to is quite large, so everyone can take a nap for a while to save your energy.”

The forest the guests were heading to was about a three-hour drive from Tromsø.

Big data soon pushed various roadshow clips and highlight reels of the movie to He Lan.

He Lan watched for a long time without realizing it. When he finally came to his senses, an hour had passed, and he closed his phone.

The few people in the front row were too excited to sleep, chatting with Xiao Chen the whole time.

Xiao Chen, the local guide, was very good at livening up the atmosphere. Along the way, he told everyone about the various wild animals they might encounter in the forest, quickly stirring up everyone’s anticipation.

Ke Tongtong, having never been to such a distant place, asked excitedly, “Is the forest we are going to very famous? Will there be lots and lots of little animals?”

Local guide Xiao Chen handed out the prepared maps and said, “It is called a forest, but it is actually a wildlife park within the Arctic Circle called Polar Park. It is located directly in the middle of the forest and is a pure, natural habitat. The variety of wildlife is rich: wolves, lynxes, bears, Arctic foxes, and the representative animal, the moose.”

Zuo Jiaxi pointed to the animal icon on the map and asked, “Can we see white moose?”

Local guide Xiao Chen answered, “Albino moose are mainly found on the border between Sweden and Norway. I cannot say for sure that we will see one, but it is a low-probability event. In Northern Europe, the white moose is a symbol of a gift bestowed by God; it is rare and sacred. I hope our friends from the East can see this gift.”

He Lan was fiddling with the camera in his hands, lost in thought. Hearing this sincere blessing, he blurted out: “What if we do not see it? Are there other gifts?”

Xiao Chen was momentarily caught off guard. He never expected this.

Duan Nan tried to smooth things over: “We had two friends who could not make it due to last-minute matters, so we were wondering if there are any souvenirs we could bring back for them.”

Xiao Chen immediately replied, “Ah, yes, yes! Everyone can receive a medal at that time, and you can have your favorite animal or something else printed on it!”

He showed them many photos of wild animals. Among the guests, Zuo Jiaxi and Ke Tongtong were the most excited. After all, the two kids from the South had already been ecstatic about seeing snow, and now they were going to see a snowy forest, bombarding Xiao Chen with questions the whole way.

Ke Tongtong even brought a Polaroid, affectionately hugging Yu An’s shoulder: “Sister Yu An, we are definitely going to get some great shots today!”

Three hours is neither short nor long.

After arriving at the destination, the guests listened to Xiao Chen repeat the precautions before they were free to wander around.

Because it was considered a private itinerary, only two follow-up photographers were sent to follow them from a distance, making it convenient to capture interesting material at key moments.

The animal park was very large. Looking out, it was all snowy white. Perhaps because it was so cold this season, they did not see many tourists even after walking for ten minutes.

However, He Lan noticed that after walking a distance, there was a small shop on a path to the right that seemed to sell souvenirs. Just as he was about to step toward it and leave the group, Duan Nan reached out and pulled him back.

Duan Nan asked, “Where are you going?”

They were supposed to be viewing animals according to the map route, and the souvenir shop was clearly not on the map.

He Lan said, “Ah,” and returned to the group.

He held up the map that had been folded into quarters and said casually, “Nothing, I just wanted to go over there and see. I thought there was something like a bird-watching base on the map.”

Duan Nan lowered his head, looked at the map in his hand in confusion, glanced in that direction again, and muttered, “Where is there a bird-watching base?”

He was quite interested in bird-watching and was about to ask He Lan where it was on the map, but saw He Lan go over to Zuo Jiaxi’s side, so he dropped the subject.

Zuo Jiaxi and Ke Tongtong were squatting by the fence, holding food to feed the Arctic foxes.

“God, they will not bite my fingers, right? Why are they so close to me and still cannot eat it!” Zuo Jiaxi pinched the food and reached out through the fence, his body, however, was very honest as he leaned back hard.

Ke Tongtong watched his slightly provocative posture from the side, holding back a laugh, and secretly took a picture with her Polaroid.

However, the Arctic foxes had never seen such a feeding posture either. The distance was not enough, so the foxes stretched toward Zuo Jiaxi’s food, scaring him so much that he sat down on the ground.

“Hiss.” Zuo Jiaxi rubbed his aching hip, still shaken.

“Are you okay?” Seeing him fall, Duan Nan walked over and helped Zuo Jiaxi stand up.

Zuo Jiaxi shook his head, used Duan Nan’s strength to rise, patted the snow off his backside, and bared his teeth at the Arctic fox: “I am not feeding you anymore!”

Xiao Chen had been communicating with the park staff and came back just in time to say, “Teachers, I have confirmed with the park: you can go inside to feed the Arctic foxes. You can try it.”

Seeing that everyone did not move for a moment, he added, “Do not worry, teachers; they are gentle and have no aggression.”

As soon as he finished speaking, He Lan enthusiastically went to open the fence.

“Brother He Lan, you! I am scared!” Zuo Jiaxi did not expect someone to act so quickly and immediately hid behind Duan Nan.

“Ah?” Hearing this, He Lan closed the fence again.

However, he turned his head and saw the person trembling behind Duan Nan, and he picked at his ear: “What? You cannot wait?”

After he finished speaking, he opened the fence halfway again.

At this time, Yu An was coming over with food. Several Arctic foxes smelled it and headed toward the fence door. Yu An did not know what had happened, so she took out a piece of food to lure the foxes and said to He Lan, “Open it a little more; let us go in and feed them.”

He Lan held back his laughter and opened the fence a bit more. Worried that the foxes might actually run out, he used his body to slightly block the gate. However, teasing a kid was truly fun. He Lan looked inside and said to Yu An, “The Arctic foxes are coming out; come over and feed them.”

“!” Zuo Jiaxi immediately pulled Duan Nan back a few steps and screamed in a breakdown: “I am going to tell Teacher Shen!”

He Lan instinctively went “click” and shut the fence door. After closing it, he paused.

Wait.

Why was he scared?

In the past, before he had caught up with Shen Shiqin, he would always find various excuses to get Shen Shiqin and some mutual friends to go out for gatherings under the guise of building brotherly bonds. Back then, Meng Yichun was not very old, and He Lan loved to tease him the most. The reason was simple: once, when he was chasing Shen Shiqin, Meng Yichun had tripped him up quite a bit for the sake of his “Brother Shen.” Every time he teased Meng Yichun, the kid would get angry and say he was going to complain to Shen Shiqin. Perhaps because they were family, Shen Shiqin always sided with Meng Yichun. And that detestable Ji Wenchen would go even further, adding oil to the fire, telling Shen Shiqin how he had bullied Meng Yichun. Every time, he was so angry he gritted his teeth, but he had no way to argue back. Clearly, Ji Wenchen and he should have been on the same side, but back then, he was isolated and helpless. Over time, as soon as he heard the phrase “I am going to tell Brother Shen,” he would cower.

This bad habit had not changed to this day. This brat had such an insidious trick, actually using Shen Shiqin to scare him. After realizing this, he looked at Zuo Jiaxi, who was hiding behind Duan Nan and quietly patting his chest in relief, and asked with utter disbelief: “Little Zuo, who did you learn this trick from? You have gone bad!”

Seeing He Lan looking at him, Zuo Jiaxi took a step back, feeling guilty, and retorted with little conviction: “Who… who told you to scare me?”

In Tromsø, the sky would go completely dark by nearly three in the afternoon. The group had walked more than halfway and were lucky enough to see many wild animals.

He Lan glanced at the time; it was just past 1 PM. The snow was still very deep, and the sky, along with the entire earth, glowed with the color of a vast ocean. But the white foam on this ocean would not slap against each other layer after layer and disappear into the horizon.

He remembered that he still had his camera, so he adjusted the angle, framed everything he saw before him into the lens, and froze this moment of Norway in his eyes.

Zuo Jiaxi and the others were in front. Walking along, he saw that He Lan had not followed, so he slowed down a few steps and walked to his side, curiously leaning over to look: “Brother He Lan, what are you shooting?”

He Lan retracted his camera: “Nothing. Are we almost done visiting?”

Zuo Jiaxi looked at Xiao Chen, who was walking at the front of the team, and said: “Brother Xiao Chen said we are going to see the moose. After seeing the moose, we can leave.”

He Lan nodded, suddenly remembering something, and asked again, “Are there any albino moose here?”

Zuo Jiaxi gestured, “You clearly were not listening to the lecture, Brother He Lan! This is the Wildlife Display Center. There are no albino moose, but they said they might exist in the forest surrounding the Polar Park.”

“Is that so.” He Lan lowered his brow, feeling a bit regretful, “Let us go, see the moose and go home.”

The two walked slowly, and by the time they arrived, everyone was already taking pictures with the moose.

The Norwegian moose was huge. At a glance, it reminded He Lan of the elks ridden by the Elven King Thranduil in the Hobbit movie he had watched. The mounts in the movie were prehistoric creatures, giant deer. He remembered every detail of that movie clearly. Thinking about it now, he did not know why. He only remembered that the day he returned to the hotel after filming, it was already very late. He entered the room with light footsteps and found that in the dim light, Shen Shiqin was leaning in the corner of the sofa, wrapped in a thin blanket, reading a script and waiting for him.

He took off his coat and changed his shoes. Regardless of Shen Shiqin’s look of disdain, he leaned over and kissed and hugged him. When he asked why he had not slept, Shen Shiqin only said he had a cup of coffee in the afternoon and was very energetic now. Hearing that, he was not sleepy either. But they both had work the next day. They could not do what they wanted to do. So they just found a random movie, showered, and curled up on the sofa together to watch it. The movie they watched at the time was The Hobbit. When the giant deer appeared, Shen Shiqin asked, “Do such creatures still exist now?”

He Lan’s first reaction was the moose, saying, “It is a bit like a moose, huge in size, and also has two very large antlers.”

“Then, let us go see it together when we have the chance.”

“Okay.”

…

Looking at the moose in front of him, it seemed to overlap with the giant deer in the movie from the past. But two things separated by so many centuries were, after all, different. He Lan’s fingers subconsciously stroked the camera in his hand, and his mind suddenly recalled what Shen Shiqin had said, half-asleep, before he came. He had said that if there were moose, he should take pictures to show him.

…

“What are you thinking about again, Brother He Lan!” Zuo Jiaxi waved his hand in front of him. “That look in your eyes, it really is what the netizens say: you are even looking at a moose affectionately.”

He Lan came back to his senses and replied helplessly, “What ‘looking at a moose affectionately’?”

Zuo Jiaxi imitated his expression just now, his tone bold: “Like, that look you had just now… Brother, do you want to kiss the moose?”

He Lan smacked him on the head, annoyed: “Who wants to kiss a moose?”

Zuo Jiaxi covered his head, murmuring in a low voice: “Then why be so sentimental?”

Yu An walked over just in time to stop the battle that was about to start and said, “You brought this camera, are you not going to use it? I remember Teacher Shen wanted to see many of the wild animals here, right?”

He Lan raised the camera to take a picture, looking at the moose facing the lens in the small frame, and said, “There are not many.”

“What?” Yu An did not understand.